TeenSafe in the News: Teens and ‘Sexting’

Do you remember the time before smartphones, when you would take a racy photo of yourself, “xerox” it, and pass around copies to your entire high school, for all of your classmates to see? No?

That’s probably because you would never think of doing something like that—yet for today’s teens, that’s a very likely possibility for them every single time they send a sext. It’s estimated that 70% of teenagers admit to sexting with their boyfriend or girlfriend, and while these sexts are meant to be private, each and every one has the potential to be saved, sent, and shared on the web.

Even popular apps that are designed to make sure images of messages disappear don’t always ensure the pictures are “safe.” If a teen was to send an explicit photo to another teen via Snapchat, the message will disappear after one view, but the teen who received the Snap can still “screenshot” the Snap, and save it as if it were a regular photo. They could then share that photo with anyone they chose – which could cause problems for both of them. The sender could be humiliated and bullied, and have their online reputation damaged for years to come. At the same time, if things got out of hand, the sharer could be charged with circulating child pornography!

The consequences of sexting are serious, yet sexting is now considered normal behavior, in the time when the majority of teens have a smartphone. Giving our children devices have completely changed the way the interact, and that means it has changed the way parents need to talk to their children about safe sex—and safe sexting.

In an interview with Fox 5 DC, TeenSafe CEO Rawdon Messenger talks about giving teens the “sext” talk, and giving parents the tools to better navigate that talk.

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